How hot are the Warriors? When you’re on a six-game win streak, even shots like this go in…

THE LINEUP 🏀

What’s inside today’s edition? 

Knicks Rally: NY erased a 21-point deficit to end a 3-game slide; Philly is 2-0 since Embiid’s return

Key West Wins: The Warriors, Mavs and Clippers all got wins to hold their playoff position

Playoff Picture: Track which teams moved up, moved down, held steady or clinched a postseason spot

Luka & Kyrie: The All-Star backcourt has shined in their first full season as teammates

Busy Friday: With a 12-game slate, we look at half that will impact the races for the coveted No. 6 seeds

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Last night’s scores & what to watch today.

Kings-Celtics (7:30 ET, NBA TV): While the Celtics have wrapped up the East, the Kings are still trying to punch their ticket to the postseason

Wolves-Suns (10 ET, NBA TV): The first of two meetings between these teams over the final 10 days of the regular season

1. KNICKS RALLY TO END LOSING STREAK

Knicks End 3-Game Slide: Down 21 with 8:42 left in the first half, the Knicks outscored the Kings 95-63 the rest of the way, including a 28-14 game-ending run to win 120-109.

The Villanova Knicks – Jalen Brunson (35 pts, 11 ast), Josh Hart (31 pts, 9 reb, 8 ast) and Donte DiVincenzo (21 pts, 5 3s) – led the comeback with a combined 87 points. | Recap

• Jalen Chasing Melo: Brunson posted his 30th game with 30+ points this season, the most by a Knick since Carmelo Anthony (31) in 2012-13
• Sabonis Extends Streak: Domantas Sabonis (17 pts, 11 reb) posted his 59th straight double-double and 72nd this season, passing Kevin Garnett for the most in the past 20 seasons and tying Hakeem Olajuwon for the third most in a season

Philly Makes Final Run: In a game highlighted by massive scoring runs from both teams – 17-2 Philly to open the game, 25-6 Miami response, 20-1 Philly response, 8-0 Miami to close half – it was the Sixers that closed the game on a 15-3 burst to rally for a 109-105 win. | Recap

• All-Star Duo Back: Tyrese Maxey (37 pts, 9 reb, 11 ast) nearly posted a triple-double in his return from a two-game absence (hip) while Joel Embiid had 29 points in his second game back. Maxey and Embiid combined for 45 in the first half and 66 for the game
• Series Tied 2-2: All four meetings between the Sixers and Heat this season were decided between four and seven points, with an even composite score (424-424)

2. WARRIORS WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT

Splash Bros. Strike: Looking to land a crushing blow to Houston’s hopes of passing them for the final spot in the Play-In, the Warriors had their best shooting game of the season (58.8%) with the Splash Bros. dropping 29 points apiece to lead the Warriors to a 133-110 win. | Recap

• 🗣️ Klay On The Win: “We know what’s at stake and we know how important these last games are. So I thought we played with the sense of urgency we needed to get it done.”

Mavs Clinch Postseason Spot: Kyrie Irving (26 pts, 5 reb) and Luka Doncic (25 pts, 12 reb, 8 ast) combined for 51 points to lead the Mavs to a 109-95 win over the Hawks. | Recap

• Must-See Luka: Dropping a no-look dime to PJ Washington for the corner 3 … hitting the one-footed 3-pointer off the glass

Clippers Bounce Back: After a loss to the Kings on Tuesday to snap a three-game win streak, the Clippers knocked off the defending champs to tighten their grasp on the No. 4 seed in the West.

Paul George (28 pts, 3 stl) and James Harden (20 pts, 8 ast) combined for 48 as LA held off a late Nuggets rally. | Recap

• Joker Triple-Double Not Enough: Nikola Jokic (36 pts, 17 reb, 10 ast) posted his 24th triple-double of the season but missed a difficult fading 3-pointer at the buzzer for the win
• Fantastic Four: Harden became the fourth player to reach 25,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 7,000 assists – joining teammate Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Oscar Robertson

3. PLAYOFF PICTURE: 3 TEAMS CLINCH TOP-10 SEED

The Mavs, Suns and Pelicans clinched top-10 seeds, while teams continue to jockey for position. Here’s the latest from Thursday:

• ↔️ Denver: The Nuggets remain second in the West, moving a half-game behind No. 1 Minnesota and staying a half-game up on No. 3 OKC
• ↔️ LA Clippers: The Clippers remain fourth in the West, staying two games up on No. 5 Dallas
• ☑️ ↔️ Dallas: Clinched a postseason berth (top-10 finish), remain fifth in the West, taking a full-game lead over the No. 6 Suns and No. 7 Pelicans, while staying two games back of the No. 4 Clippers
• ↔️ Sacramento: The Kings remain eighth in the West, one game back of No. 7 New Orleans and No. 6 Phoenix, and just a half-game up on the No. 9 Lakers
• ☑️ Phoenix: The Suns clinched a postseason berth (top-10 finish) with Houston’s loss
• ☑️ New Orleans: The Pelicans clinched a postseason berth (top-10 finish) with Houston’s loss
• ↔️ Golden State: The Warriors remain 10th in the West, extending their lead over No. 11 Houston to four games and pulling 1.5 games back of the No. 9 Lakers
• ↔️ Houston: The Rockets drop four games back of No. 10 Golden State with six games to play

The Knicks inched closer to the No. 3 seed, while the Heat dropped into the Play-In. Here’s the latest from Thursday:

• ↔️ Knicks: The Knicks remain fifth in the East, pull even with No. 4 Orlando (who holds the tiebreaker) and pull within a half-game of No. 3 Cleveland
• ⬇️ Miami: The Heat drop from sixth to seventh in the East, a half-game back of No. 6 Indiana and a half-game up on No. 8 Philly
• ⬆️ Indiana: The idle Pacers moved up from seventh to sixth with Miami’s loss
• ↔️ Philadelphia: The Sixers remain eighth in the East, but pull within a half-game of No. 7 Miami and a game of No. 6 Indiana
• ↔️ Atlanta: The Hawks remain 10th in the East, moving a half-game back of No. 9 Chicago

Check out the updated bracket, to see the matchups if the postseason started today.

4. LUKA-KYRIE COMBO PEAKING AT RIGHT TIME

Tonight’s matchup between the Warriors and Mavs (8:30 ET, NBA App) features one of the greatest backcourts in NBA history (the Splash Bros.) against the hottest combo in the league right now (Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving).

Averaging a combined 59.2 points per game – Luka (leading the league at 33.8 ppg) and Kyrie (14th at 25.4 ppg) – the duo has found its way in their first full season together as teammates.

Going into the year, the pair looked poised to outperform last year’s slow start, after Dallas acquired Kyrie at last season’s trade deadline. But of late, they’ve formed one of the league’s most dangerous duos.

🗣️ Mavs coach Jason Kidd: “The start wasn’t what we wanted, but sometimes you have to fail to be successful and it’s alright to fail. As long as you learn and you continue to keep working and that’s what those two have done and they’ve turned the corner.”

• 2022-23: 444 minutes on-court together over 16 games (5-11)
• 2023-24: 1,204 minutes on-court together over 48 games (32-16)

A key to building that chemistry was time on the court together, getting more reps with one another in order to have an innate feel for what the other is going to do.

Luka and Kyrie have both played in 24 of Dallas’ last 25 games – a stretch that has seen the Mavs go 19-7 and climb from eighth (26-23) to fifth (46-30) in the West. Check out what Kyrie had to say after playing 17 straight games with Luka, their longest run as teammates.

•  Kyrie: “It feels good to play that amount of consistent games and get a feel for one another and really show what we’ve been working on in practice, too. …
• “You guys don’t get a chance to see all our practices, and it’s me and Luka playing against our second five, but we have great chemistry. When we have guys making shots alongside us, it makes the game a lot easier.”

After Kidd likened his backcourt to a pair of superheroes, calling Luka ‘Superman’ and Kyrie ‘Batman’, Luka had a different combo in mind.

• 🗣️ Luka: “He’s the ‘Batman,’ I’m the ‘Robin.’ Having him on our team is amazing. And not just basketball, he’s just a great person and we all get along so well. The chemistry is really good right now.”

Batman and Robin vs. the Splash Bros. for the final time this regular season, tonight at 8:30 ET in the NBA App.

5. SIX GAMES TO WATCH AS TEAMS BATTLE FOR A TOP 6 SEED

With a dozen games tonight, there will be a ton of playoff ramifications to follow, with half of the games impacting the all-important sixth seed in both conferences.

In the East, three teams are separated by just one game for one guaranteed playoff berth:

• 6. Pacers (43-34)
• 7. Heat (42-34): 0.5 GB of Pacers, 0.5 up on Sixers
• 8. Sixers (42-35): 0.5 GB of Heat, 1.0 GB of Pacers

And two of the three are in action tonight on the NBA App.

• (6) Pacers vs. Thunder (7 ET)
• (7) Heat at Rockets (8 ET)

Miami, which went through the Play-In during last year’s Finals run, can jump the Pacers with a win and an Indy loss. Indiana will try to create some distance over Miami and Philly with a win over the shorthanded Thunder (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ruled out, Jalen Williams doubtful).

Make sure to circle Sunday’s Heat-Pacers matchup (5 ET, NBA App) as it will determine the head-to-head tiebreaker.

In the West, five teams are separated by 2.5 games with two guaranteed playoff spots on the line:

• 5. Mavs (46-30)
• 6. Suns (45-31): 1.0 GB of Mavs, tied with Pelicans, 1.0 up on Kings
• 7. Pelicans (45-31): 1.0 GB of Mavs, tied with Suns, 1.0 up on Kings
• 8. Kings (44-32): 1.0 GB of Suns and Pelicans, 0.5 up on Lakers
• 9. Lakers (44-33): 0.5 GB of Kings, 1.5 GB of Suns and Pelicans

And four of those five teams are in action today:

• (10) Warriors at (5) Mavs (8:30 ET, NBA App)
• (1) Wolves at (6) Suns (10 ET, NBA TV)
• Spurs at (7) Pelicans (8 ET, NBA App)
• (8) Kings at Celtics (7:30 ET, NBA TV)

The Suns enter today as the No. 6 seed via tiebreaker over the Pelicans, but face the West-leading Wolves – part of Phoenix’s toughest remaining schedule in the league.

The Pelicans look to snap a three-game slide that has seen them fall from fifth to seventh as they go for a 4-0 season sweep of the Spurs.

The Kings go from Garden to Garden after falling to the Knicks at MSG, to face the Celtics at TD Garden on the second night of a back-to-back (they are 6-7 in such games this season).

A loss would see the Kings tied with the No. 9 Lakers – who have won eight of their last nine, but are off Friday – although Sacramento owns the tiebreaker.

The Mavs have a one-game lead over the six seed, but face a Warriors team riding a six-game win streak, and the only team to beat the Mavs since March 17.